Conveying mechanism for dry-battery machines



Jan. 2, v1923.

L. A. FREEDM'AN.

CONVEYING NIEcHANlsNI EoH DRY BATTERY MACHINES.

' ORIGINAL FILED MAY I3, 1916.

a SHEETS-SHEET 1.

Jan. 2, 1923.

Ll A. FREEDMAN. CONVEYING MECHANISM FOR 'DRY BATTERY MACHINES.

ORIGNAL FILED MAY 13, 1916. 3 SHEETS--SHEET 2.

Jan. 2, 1923. f 1,441,196.

l.. A. FREEDVIAN. CONVEYINGMECHANISM FOR DRY BATTERY MACHINES.

ORIGINAL FILED MAY 13, 1916. 3 SHEETS-SHEETB.

Patented dan, 2, 1923.

l1,441,19 rA'rEu'r ePrice,

LOUIS A. FREEDMAN, 0F NEW YORK, N. Y.

v CONVEYING MECHANISM'fFOR DRY-BATTERY MACHINES.

Original application led May 13, 1916, SerialNo. 97,441f Divided and this application led .Tune 18,

19,19, Serial No. 305,014. .RenewedmI/)ecember 4, 1922.

17 o all wlw-m it may concern:

Be it known that I, LOUIS A.. F REEDMAN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city, county, and State of New York,

articles, and the object of this invention is to provide a mechanism ofthe character above described, in which the shells o r other receptacles are automatically inserted into a` conveyor, with suitable mechanism for moving the conveyor, and also to provide mechanism for automatically e-Jecting com'- pleted or filled receptacles -from theconveyor.

'This application is a division of my copending application Serial No. 97,441, filed May 13th, 1916, renewed May 27, 1922, Serial No. 564,219. With these objects, and other objects which may hereinafter appear, in view, l have devised the particular arrangement of parts hereinafter set forth, and more par ticularly pointed out in the claims appended hereto.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a` part hereof, in which y f Figure 1 is an end view of a portion of a battery making machine, provided with .my improved conveying mechanism, and disclosing the shell inserting mechanism which is preferably mounted at this end of the ma'-- chine, Figure 2 is a side elevation of the conveyor-operating mechanism, together with the mechanism for ejecting the filled shells,

Figure 3 is a side elevation of fthe shellejecting mechanism.'

Figure 4 is a plan' view of a portion of the shell ejecting mechanism,`

Figure 5 is an end view, partly in section, of the mechanism shown in Figure 4.

Figure Gis aside elevation` partly in section, a portion of t-he mechanism for inserting empty shells in the conveyor,

Figure T is a side elevationQpartly in seclion, of the shell inserting mechanism, disclosing the manner in which the shell insert-y ing plunger operates to inserta shell in the conveyor, i l Figure 8 is al plan view ofa portion of the conveyor, showing a portion of one of the cross races and shell holding clips'secured thereto,

Figure 9 is a sectional view on the line 9 9 of Figure 8, looking in the direction of th'e arrows, of one of the shell holding .c1-ips, an l Figure 10 is a sectional view of another form ofsliell holding clip. Throughout the various views of the drawings, similar reference vcharacters designate similar parts.

Generally, the mechanism disclosed in this application is divided into three parts, the first being a vconveying mechanism which carries the battery shells from one end of the machine to the other and preferably with an intermittent movement; thev second part comprises means for inserting the empty shells into clips arranged on the conveyor; and the third part comprises an ejecting means for the filled shells. In thel preferred' embodiment of my invention, 'the shell inserting mechanismi is placed at one end of the machine, and the shell ejectingV mechanism at the other end, al1 battery-making operations taking place within the space situated between these two mechanisms. While I will hereinafter specifically refer to a batterymaking machine, and also refer to vthe receptacles as batteryshellsf it will be understood that the mechanisms'to be hereinafter described may be` utilized in many forms and types of machines, so I do not limit or confine my invention specifically to battery making machines.

In the preferred embodiment of my invention, as shown in the accompanying drawings, 1 indicates a portion of the frame of the machine to which my improved conveying mechanism is applied. The frame is preferably of a substantially narrow width and is provided with suitable supports, as at 2. and with the longitudinally extending upper side members 3.

Mounted adjacent the two ends of the machine are transversely extending shafts 4 and The shaft 5 is the driven shaft, and is rotated intermittently by suitable-driving A mechanism to be hereinafter described.

Adjacent the endsilof each of these shafts provided with a plurality of perforations upon which are mounted resilient clips or fingers 11 which are adapted to receive, hold and carry the. battery shells. In the con` struction of the spring clips shown in Figure 9, three fingers are shown and each -finger consists' of a strip of fiat resilient material, having one of its ends secured to the cross bar 9 as at 12,' and then this spring strip extends downwardly and then outwardly and then inwardly parallel with the bottom of the shell adapted to be embraced by the fingers; and thence upwardly and parallel with the sides of the shell and thence outwardly and away from the shell so that the three fingers comprising each clip form a flared opening at their up er ends, whereby the shells may be readily lnserted between each set of fingers by the shell inserting mechanism hereinafter described.

ln Figure 10 is shown'a modification of a form of a shell holding clip. -Here the fingers are made of fiat spring metal with their upper ends bent at right angles to the body of the clips 13, and fastened to the cross bars 9', as at 14. The -lower ends 15 ofthe fingers are bent inwardly and towards one another as shown. This form of clip may be substituted for and used in place of that shown in Figure 9.

The sets of clips are placed side byside i in the cross bars, the number of sets being limited by the length of the cross bars extending across the machine, and by the number of batteries desired to be operated upon all at one time in any one row across the width of the machine.

Conveyor actuating mechanism.

Situated at one end of the machine is the conveyor actuating mechanism which is concentrically constructed about 'the transverse shaft 5. T he transverse shaft 5 is supported by two bearings which are slidably mounted on the side frames 3 of the machine in such a manner that the air of sprockets 6, 6, fixed to Shaft 5, which carry the chains 8, 8 may be moved backward or forward in the direction of the length of the machine so as to control the amount of siack in chains 8, 8 at all times.

nly one of these bearings designated as 20 for shaft' 5 is shown, and the other .is ef the well known i* 1nw biock type, both bearings having sl cater?, holes therein for allowing the bolts which mount them on slde'frames 3 to hold the transverse shaft 5 in any desired place thereby controlling the slack in the chains 8, 8. Flxed on the shaft 5 in addition tothe chain sprockets 6, 6 is the ratchet wheel, 16, which is adapted to be engaged by the pawls 17 and 18. The ,A

pawl 17 is pivotally mounted on the bearing .20 by the pivot block 19 which'is pivotally ythe sprockets 6, 6 which are controlled by the adjustment constructional features of thecombination of the lock nuts 19al mounted upon the threaded portion 17 a of pawl 17. Byl altering' the position of the lock nuts 19a upon the threads 17a the engaging face of the pawl 17 can be changed so as to exactly4 fix the permissible amount of backward movement of the ratchet wheel 16.

The pawl 18 is pivotally connected at 22 to awl radius arm 23, which has its inner endD loosely mounted on the hub of the ratchet wheel 16 on the shaft 5.. The radius arm 23 with the pawl 18 is also pivotally connected at 22 by a series of links 24, 25 and 26a to an eccentric strap 25 driven by an eccentric 26 fixed on the main shaft 27 which extends longitudinally of the entire length of the machine.

By the action of the eccentric 26 on the main shaft 27 of the machine, it is clear that when the main shaft l27 rotates, the radius arm 23 with pawl18 pivotally connected thereto at 22, is caused to oscillate backward and forward concentrically about the center of shaft 5 due to the adjustably extensible universal connecting links 24, 25a' and 26a. The coupling bolt link 24a is usedto lengthen out or shorten at will, the distance between the points 22 and 23, and the center of shaft27.

The main shaft 27 has a gear 27a fixed on it at one of its ends and this gear 27a meshes with and is driven by a gear 29a which lis fixed upon a worm shaft 30 on which is mounted a worm 28. rlhe `worm shaft 3()a is mounted to rotatel in bearings 31a and is driven by a gear 29 driven by a the eccentric 25, and-as it is thus moved, it engages the teeth on the ratchet wheel 16, tooth by tooth, and thereby intermittently rotating it. 0n the downward movement of the pawl 18, the ratchet wheel 16, and thus the conveyor, is being moved, and during the upward movement of the pawl 18 the conveyor is not moving, andit is during these pauses or dwells in the movement of the conveyor that operations upon the bat Without altering any of the adjustments of the concentric reciprocating action of the ratchet pawl 18 or the back stop pawl 17 by reason of its construction heretofore described. The number of teeth on the ratchet wheel 16 is the same as the number of cross pieces 9` that are spaced on the chain 8. In

this way it is clear that each time the .pawl

18 engages atooth on the ratchet 16 and moves it ahead until the retaining pawl `17 falls into place,. each cross piece will be moved forward far enough so that each succeeding cross piece will occupy the place previously occupied by the preceding cross piece.

Inserting mechanism.

At the opposite or front end of the machine is situated the mechanism for inserting .empty shells in the conveyor. At 32 are Ashown the inclinedl shell holding slideways. There are a series of these slideways, theaamount of slideways being governed by thhejimount of sets of shell holding clips on each cross member 9 of the conveyor. The slideways are placed parallel to one another and all are supported on a suitable bracket 33 yfixed to the side rajls 3 of the frame of the machine.. These inclined slideways are so arran ed and disposed that they hold the unfilled shells 36 of the batteries, so that the cylindrical surfaces of the shells stack one against another, and the bottoms of the shells rest against the bottom plate 34 ofthe slideways 32.

' The lower endof each slideway 32 is cut away as at 32a, and a spring pressed bolt 35 normally holds the bottom shell in position from falling through the openings 32a. This spring pressed bolt` 35 is thrust aside by-the shell whenever a. plunger 37 is forced into the lowermost shell by mechanism which will be described below. In addition to this, .the spring pressed bolt 35 tends to hold the lowermost shell in each slidewayl 4from sliding through 32a into the conveyor until pushed therein by the lplunger 37.

At the bottom of each shell slideway 32 is placed a plunger guideway 3,8, which is opposite a corresponding set of cliaps in cross piece 9, and so located that the center line of the plunger guideway is directly in line polntin towards the center line of the transverse c iain sprocket shaft 4 which has mounted upon it the pair of sprockets 6, 6 for chains 8, 8. The chains 8, 8 are designed to carry the cross pieces 9 in a man- .ner already described so that when the sets of clips l1 holding the battery shells 36 in 80 cross piece 9 are in registratlon with and come properly to rest underneath and close to this inserting mechanism, then each` plunger .is centered up concentric with its respective set of clips for holding the cup about to be inserted therein'.

This plunger 37 is provided with a toothed under surface or rack portion 39,

which isadapted to engage a segmental gear 40 mounted on an oscillating4 cross 90 shaft 41, which extends transversely of the machine, and is mounted in bearings 42 on the side members 3 of the frame of the machine.

The plungers 37 are moved by thel segmental gears 40 in guideways 38 in a direction which is normal to the pitch circle of the chains 8, 8 on sprockets 6, 6 of the shaft 4, as will be seen by the drawing, Figure 6, which shows the center line of plungers 37 160 passing through the center'oi: shaft 4.

To permit proper meshing of the teeth of the segmental gear 40 vand the toothed portion 39 of the plunger, the plunger guide 38 is slotted as at 43; The end of the plunger 105 37 which enters the cup is provided with a spring-pressed end 44, which is adapted to come into contact with the bottom of the shell which is lowermost in the column or pile of shells inthe slideway and force the same forward through the openings 32a against the resistance of spring pressed bolt 35 into its corresponding set of resilient clips 11 on that one of the cross members of the conveyor at rest opposite the openings 32a of the cell inserting mechanism. The telescopic spring pressed end 44 of the plunger 37 is a precautionary' means to assure proper contact between the bottoms of the clip fingers and shells in spite of varying depths of shells and also assures the proper compensation in the length of forward movement of the plungers 37 required to properly seat all shells between the clips 11 in the cross piece 9 of the conveyor and 125 yet at the same time not to push any one or more shells out through 'the bottom of a setof clips.

The shaft 41 is oscillated at the proper time, which is during one of the pauses in afi.

:3 nected to suitable cam mechanism 4? which is driven by the main shaft 27 ci the machine. it will be understood ror l the foregoing that for every revolution or' the main shat 27, the plungers are driven orward L" to force a shell into its respective set ci clips and then the plungers move `=sacxward withdrawing 1far enough so as te allow the next sheli that is in the bottommest position in each slideway 32 to drop dow-n into each plunger guideway 38, in position awaiting to be forced into the next set et clips situated on the next cross piece mounted on the chain, upon the next subsequent "forward movement of the plungers 37. l

lt will alsol be understood that the plunger mechanism is identical for each slideway and operates identical for each longitudinal line of clips in the machine.

After the shells have been inserted into the clips 11, they are carried by the conveyor to various mechanisms which are placed on the frame of the machine. These various mechanisms fill, heat, cool and perform other operations on the shells while these shells are held in the conveyor during the intermittent pauses as well'. other times while on their way on the conveyor, and

when the shells reach the ejecting mechanism, now to be described, these operations having been performed, the filled shells are ready to be ejected from the conveyor.

E jectz'ng mechanism.

The ejecting mechanism is shown in Figures 2, 3, 4 and 5. On the inside of the longltudinal side members 3 of the machine and extending downwardly from the main body 48 of the ejector mechanism are located brackets 53, which are united by the tra-nsverse section 48, which isprovided with'a plurality `of parallel vertically extending perforations through which vertically reciprocating ejecting plungers 49 move. Each of these plungers is so placed as to be in direct alignment with a shell when held in the clips 11 so that upon its upward movement, the plunger is adapted to contact with the bottom of the shell and force the shell upward and out of engagement with the fingers 11 of the clip. The upper end of each plunger is beveled as at 49 so that they can pass in between the clips should no shell be held therein. Each plunger 49 is connected to a suitable crank 50 by means of a slotted pivot construction at 51, and each crank 50 is fixed on an oscillating shaft 52 which has its ends mounted in the brackets 53. The shaft 52 is oscillated at the proper time by means of a link 54 attached as shown to a lever 54 mounted on the shaft 52 which is reciprocated by means of suitable cam mechanism 54 on the main shaft 27 of the machine.

'i he bracket 53 is provided with an extension in the iorm of a bearing 55a and in this bearing is mounted a shaft 55 which extends transversely of the machine and upon which is fixed a number of crank arms.

@ne of these arms 56 has itsend attached to a coil spring 57 which has its upper end attached to a fixed part of the. machine on the longitudinal raine member 3.' This sprin 57 is a retractive spring, and normally holds the arm 56 in the position shown. Another arm 58 is fixedly mounted on the shaft 55, and is'connected at its end to a link 59 which has a slot60 in which a pin 61 on the lever 58 extends. The link 59 extends to suitable cam mechanism 62 on the main shaft 27 of the machine, which causes the link 59 to reciprocate once in each revolution of the shaft 27.

Another arm 63 is one of a pair that is fixed on the shaft 55 and which runs in a substantially vertical direction'to above the level of the table plate 64 where both arms 63 are attached by links 65 to the cell pusher slide 66. This cell pusher slide 66 has a series of perforations for the parallel fingers 67 which serve as partitions, to pass through the pusher slide 66. -On one end of the parallel fingers 67 they are made fast into the ends of the vertical divisional plates 68, and at the other end the parallel lingers 67 are provided with the enlarged head construction 67a so as to act as a limit stop for the backward movement ofthe cell pusher slide 66, which slides-backward and forward on them.

The table plate N64 is slidably mounted upon the side members 3. This table plate 64 in combination with the divisional plates 68 extending in a direction parallel with the chain travel, forms the means for receivingthe cells in parallel rows 68EL as they are ejected from the machine.

Therefore, in each alley on the table 64 and similar td .the oplenings 32 in the shell .inserting mechanism are the openings 64a in the table plate 64 which are so 1ocated to be directly above and in line with the ejector plunger 49.

The slide 66 is provided with semi-circular recesses 69 which fit the cylindrical sidesl of the shells 36 when they have been raised by the plungers as shown in Figure 4, and are shaped 1n contour so `that theyA are p0- sitioned slightly back from the perforation openings 64a in plate 64.

The cams which drive the links 54 and -59 are so timed that at the proper time. when a cross bar 9 ofthe conveyor carrying its spring clips lled with the completed or tllled battery shells reaches a position (lirectly above the plungers 49, the chains with y their cells come to rest andthe plungers are elevated and t-he shells are forced out of the embrace of the spring clips upward through the table perforations 64 and are lifted to an elevation slightl above the level of the table 64. Up to tiis point the slide 66 has been stationary, the slot 60 in the link 59 permittingupward movement vof the link 59 without causing movement or actuation of the arms 56, 58, 63, 65 and the pin 61. The bottom of the slot 60 is reached by the pin 6l co-incidentally-with the raising of the shells 36 by the plungers 49 through the table perforations 64 to their highest point. Then the slide 66 rapidly moves forward by further lifting of the link 59 whereby the shells are swept forward from their position on topof the plungers 49 onto the table 64 and between the guides 68 in rows 68a from whence they may be removed when desired. The plungers 49 are then lowered down far enough to clear the next row of shells approaching', the slide 66 is drawn backward against the stops 67a where it awaits the lifting of the next row of shells. x

Having described my invention, it is obvious that it is not to be restricted to the exact embodiment shown, but is broad enough to cover all structures coming within the scope of the annexed claims.

What ,I claim is:

1. In `a machine of the class described, a conveyor provided with a plurality of spring clips for holding receptacles, means for inserting shells into said clips comprising a plurality'of plungers and mechanism for actuating the same, ejecting mechanism comprising a plurality of plungers adapted to force the shells out of the embrace of said clips, a slide, and a table upon which said shells are adapted to be moved b vsa-id slide.

2.-In a machine of the class described, a. conveyor, means on said conveyor for receiving and holding a plurality of receptacles, a plurality of plungers and means for actuating the same to cause said plungers to insert receptacles into said receptacle holding means, and an ejecti'ng mechanism comprising a plurality of plungers and means for actuating the same to cause 'said plungers to remove the receptaclesfrom out of engagement with thereceptacle holding means, a. slide, and a table-upon which said rereptacles are adapted4 to be moved by said s 1 ednra machine of the class described, a conveyor provided with al plurality of vref ceptacle holding spring clips, a receptacle slideway, a plunger beneath said slideway provided with a spring pressed head for contacting with and forcing a receptacle into position in a set of spring clips.

4. In a machine of the class. described, a

conveyor for holding a plurality of recep-A slide adapted to move the receptacles onto said table when elevated by the plungers.

5. In a' machine of the class described, a conveyor having a plurality of spring clips for holding receptacles, a plurality of plungers adapted to contact with and force said receptacles out ot' the embrace of said clips, a table and a slide for moving the receptacles onto the table after the same has been disengaged from the clips.

6. In a machine of the class described, a conveyor, means on said conveyor for receiving and holding receptacles, a plunger for inserting said receptacles into said receptacle holding means, and a spring pressed head on said plunger.

7. In a machine of the class described, a conve-yor provided with a plurality of clips for holding receptacles and carrying the same, means for ejecting said receptacles from said clips comprising a plurality of plungers, a movable slide adapted to contact with the receptacles removed from the clips and a table upon which said receptacles are moved by said slide.

8. In a machine of the class described, means for holding a plurality of receptacles, means for removing said receptacles from said holding means comprising a plurality of upwardly movable plungers adapted to contact with said receptacles and lift the same,'a slide adapted to contact with said receptacles and shift the `same and a support for receiving the receptacles moved by the slide. i

9. In a machine of the class described, a conveyor mechanism comprising a pair of spaced apart chains, connect-ions betw'een said chains, receptacle supporting members on said connections, plungers for inserting t receptacles in said supporting members, means for ejecting said receptacles `therefrom, said ejecting means comprising a pluto contact with and lift each receptacle out.

of its clip, a slide adapted to contact with the lifted receptacles and a support on which the lifted receptacles are moved by said slide.

conveyor, means on said conveyor for receiving and holding receptacles, a plunger for inserting said receptacles -into said receptacle-holding means, a slide way adapted to 11. In a machine of the class described, a

cause successive receptacles to be positioned adjacent to the plunger and a resilient stop for retaining each receptacle in position to receive the thrust of the plunger.

12. In a machine of the class described, a conveyor, means on said conveyor for receiving and holding receptacles, a plunger adapted to enter into each of said receptacles and contact with the bottom thereof and insert said receptacles into the receptacle-holding means and a spring-pressed head on said plunger.

13. In a machine of the class described'Ta conveyor, means thereon for receiving and holding a plurality of receptacles, a plunger adapted to successively feed receptacles to -said conveyor, a support for said receptacles in the path of movement of the plunger, and a resihently mounted stop on said support adapted to position said receptacles on their support. v

14. In a machine of the class described, a

conveyor, means thereon for receiving and holding a plurality of receptacles, a plurality of plungers operating in unison to feed receptacles to said conveyor, means for ejecting receptacles from said conveyor comprising a plurality of upwardly movable ejecting plungers, a slide adapted to engage receptacles moved by said ejecting plungers and a support on Which receptacles are moved by said slide.

15. In a machine of the class described, a conveyor provided with means for holding a plurality'of receptacles, a receptacle slideway, a plunger beneath said slideWay provided with a spring-pressed head for contacting with and forcing a receptacle into position on the conveyor and a resilient stop in said slideway for holding the receptacles in the path of movement of the plunger.

Signed at the city, county and State of New York, this 26th day of May, 1919.

LOUIS A, FREEDMAN. 

